Body Pulled Out Of Lake Officially Identified As Teleka Patrick

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — An autopsy determined that a body found in an Indiana lake is that of a Michigan doctor who had been missing since December, authorities said Wednesday.

The coroner in Porter County, Ind., said in a news release that it was Teleka Patrick’s body that was pulled Sunday from Lake Charles in the northwest part of the state. The site is about 15 miles east of Gary and near where a car belonging to the 30-year-old doctor was abandoned Dec. 5 along Interstate 94.

Investigation continues to determine the cause of death, the release said. Toxicology results were pending. The Detroit Free Press, however, reports Patrick may have drowned.

Kalamazoo County Sheriff Richard Fuller said at a news conference in Kalamazoo Wednesday morning that there were no signs of trauma or foul play found on the body. He said an initial cause of death appeared to be drowning.

Michigan authorities say Patrick behaved strangely and erratically with colleagues and others in the hours before her disappearance.

She was last seen trying to get a room at a Kalamazoo hotel. She didn’t stay there and got a ride back to her car at Borgess Medical Center. Patrick had been in Michigan since last summer when she started a medical residency at Borgess.

Grammy-nominated gospel singer Marvin Sapp had secured a personal protection order against Patrick in September. Sapp, pastor of Lighthouse Full Life Center Church in Grand Rapids, alleged that Patrick claimed to be his wife, contacted his teenage children and had been to his home. He said she had joined his church after moving from California.

Fuller previously said he believes Sapp was “an innocent victim of an apparent stalking” and has no evidence they ever met or had personal contact.

Patrick was raised in New York and graduated with a medical degree and a doctorate in biochemistry from Loma Linda University in California.